Schizostylus must be one of the most neglected and under-planted bulbous plants there are available to gardeners. And now the poor thing has had its name changed by the botanist boffins! We should now be calling them Hesperantha. Their common name is Kaffir Lily. They hail from South Africa and are members of the iris family.
The commonest must be S. coccinea “Major” with its deep coppery red colouring that zings in any part of the garden when the weather is gloomy from October onwards, often well into early spring.
We recently planted this variety “Pink Princess” with flowers of the palest pink possible.
Our latest addition is this small flowered pink with the evocative name “Fenland Daybreak”. The pink of each petal has the finest dark pink lines on like spiders webs. It is a real beauty.
So there they are our three Schizostylus, three sisters one princess by name but all princesses in beauty.
greenbenchramblings 